Good Food and Cover
Buttonbush – Cephalanthus occidentalis
Form
Shrub 3 to 9 feet tall. Coarse branching habit.
Bark
Twigs reddish-brown becoming grayish-brown.
Leaves
Deciduous, simple, opposite or occasionally in whorls of 3, 3 to 6 inches long.
Flowers
June-August. White, borne in showy round heads slightly over 1 inch in diameter.
Fruits
Dry seeds clustered in a head, greenish or red tinged in early autumn, disintegrating as winter approaches.
West Virginia Range
Probably in every county.
Natural Habitat
Swamps and stream margins.
Wildlife Use
Flowers attract bees, butterflies and moths. Deer browse the foliage and twigs. Ducks, especially the mallard, eat the seeds.
Horticulture
Uses: Shrub border and for naturalizing in wet sites. Light: Medium to full sun. Soil Moisture: Wet to moist. Soil pH: Acid to neutral. Problems: Short lived and loses its form after a few years and must be cut back to let resprout.
Compiled by Brian McDonald, botanist, coordinator Natural Heritage Program. West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, Elkins , West Virginia
Written by West Virginia Native Plant Society members and jointly published with the WV Wildlife Diveristy Program